eMercedesBenz Feature: The 1952 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Racing Sport Coupe

The Le Mans 24 Hour race has been ranking among the motor sport season's highlights ever since 1923. The competitors – and even more so the winners – have always attracted the undivided attention of the spectators as well as of the buyers, victory in Le Mans being equivalent to a boost in both image and sales figures. In 1952, Daimler-Benz AG entered three of the newly developed, futuristically designed Mercedes-Benz 300 SL racing sports coupes in this traditional long-distance race. The competitors were taken by surprise but not disquieted because first of all, Mercedes had never before done particularly well in Le Mans, and secondly, the cars from Untertürkheim were inferior to the cars of the French, British and Italians in terms of performance. Nevertheless, however, Mercedes again faced up to the competition. The new SL cars had demonstrated speed and stamina for the first time in the Mille Miglia in early May and finished in a respectable second place in this renowned long-distance race. The 300 SL hit the headlines again with its triple victory in the Bern Grand Prix.